The Evolving Economy series in the Globe and Mail

The Globe and Mail and Microsoft are collaborating on a series of articles and videos looking at The Evolving Economy, and they asked me to contribute.  My article and interview focused on the Net Generation:

Want to know what the most effective corporations of tomorrow will look like? Look at those that are most successful at attracting young workers today.

Even with the current economic downturn, we’re on the brink of a major war for talent, as many companies that rely on knowledge workers already know. The tables have turned. Today, there may be a surplus of labor, but not of talent.

Twenty years ago, when college grads poured into the work force, companies had their pick of the best and the brightest. Employers had the power to choose; employees were grateful to get a job and did what they could to keep it, and the last thing on their mind would be to suggest radical new ways of working and managing a company. But in the next 10 years, as middle-aged and older employees retire, there won’t be enough young employees - I call them the Net Generation - to fill up the management spots being vacated.

If you persuade them to work for your company, these young people will bring with them a natural affinity for technology that seems uncanny. They instinctively turn first to the Net to communicate, understand, learn and find. If you’re older than 30, you probably think you are as cyber-sophisticated as the next person - shopping online, using Wikipedia, sending 100 e-mails a day and doing the BlackBerry prayer every 10 minutes. But compared to the kids, most of us are Luddites.

Read my full article and view the video here.